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Celtics beat Lakers 116-95 for 6th straight win

Paul Pierce scored 24 points and led a third-quarter surge as the Boston Celtics routed the Los Angeles Lakers 116-95 on Thursday night, improving to 6-0 since losing point guard Rajon Rondo for the season with a torn knee ligament.

The Lakers had cut a 58-44 halftime deficit to 72-61 with 5:07 left in the third quarter. Then the Celtics went on a 23-8 run and led 95-69 going into the fourth. Pierce started the surge with a three-point play and ended it with a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left, giving him 12 points in the period.

Kobe Bryant scored 27 to lead the Lakers, who suffered their worst loss of the season despite the return of Dwight Howard after he missed three games with a sore right shoulder.

The win was Boston’s biggest of the season.

The Lakers had won six of their previous seven games, including all three without Howard, and had moved three games behind the Houston Rockets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West…

Kevin Garnett had 15 points and became the 16th player in NBA history to score 25,000 when he hit an 11-foot turnaround jumper that gave him six for the game and put the Celtics ahead 39-29 with 8:08 left in the half. Jeff Green had 19 points and Jason Terry added 15.

— Reported by Howard Ulman of the Associated Press

Pau Gasol inured, out at least 6-8 weeks

Los Angeles Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol, who injured his right foot in Tuesday’s game against the Nets in Brooklyn, returned to Los Angeles from Boston this morning where he was examined by foot specialist Dr. Kenneth Jung.

Jung’s diagnosis confirmed that Gasol has a tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot. Gasol is expected to be out a minimum of 6-8 weeks.

Kobe Bryant denies pushing Dwight Howard to play with injury

The newest Lakers firestorm arrived Thursday after Kobe Bryant apparently told ESPN.com the night before that Dwight Howard needed to come back from his injured shoulder. Quickly.

But Bryant said Thursday he wasn’t prodding Howard to return.

“Not even a little bit,” Bryant said in a quiet moment after the team’s morning shoot-around, adding that he was surprised at the tone of the ESPN story. “In this case, it’s not legitimate. I was shocked.”

Bryant has a high threshold for pain, as evidenced plenty of times in the past. Howard has missed six games and left two others because of a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

Bryant understood that his own pain tolerance was through the charts.

“I’m crazy, though, so I don’t put that on other people,” he said.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan and T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times

Pau Gasol injury update

Los Angeles Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol had an MRI test today in Boston on his right foot, which he injured in last night’s game in Brooklyn. Results of the MRI showed that Gasol has a tear of the plantar fascia.

The MRI test will be sent to team doctors in Los Angeles for analysis and Gasol will fly to Los Angeles tomorrow, where he will be examined by team doctor Steve Lombardo and foot specialist Dr. Kenneth Jung. A further update including a time estimate for Gasol’s return will be issued at the conclusion of the examination.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “The plantar fascia is located in the arch of the foot, and Gasol has been bothered throughout this season by painful swelling in the same area, called plantar fasciitis. He aggravated the foot earlier in Tuesday’s game and said he later felt a pop in it after jumping to block the shot of Nets center Brook Lopez with 4:23 to play. Gasol stayed down on the court for several seconds and remained in the game after a 20-second timeout but started limping while trying to run and headed for the locker room. He needed crutches after the game to leave the locker room. Gasol will meet with Lakers doctor Steven Lombardo and foot specialist Kenneth Jung on Thursday.”

Lakers will not trade Dwight Howard

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has told Dwight Howard he will not be traded before the Feb. 21 trade deadline, according to league sources.

Kupchak recently told Newsday the same thing, saying: “We will not trade Dwight Howard.” Sources say Kupchak has told Howard several times that he has no intention of trading him.

There have been rumblings for the past month that the Lakers are considering moving Howard out of fear that he might leave as a free agent after the season. Despite their concerns, the Lakers have not directly asked Howard whether he plans to stay or go in free agency, according to sources.

Sources have told ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Ramona Shelburne that the Lakers are “very confident” Howard will remain with the team this summer.

Howard has steadfastly refused to reveal his plans for this summer, and sources say he truly does not know what he will do. The sources add that he definitely will not ask to be traded.

— Reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN.com

Metta World Peace suspended one game for foul on Brandon Knight

Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended one game without pay for grabbing Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons around the neck and striking him in the jaw, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 1:43 remaining in the 2nd period, of the Lakers’ 98-97 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, Feb. 3 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

World Peace will serve his suspension tonight when the Lakers visit the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.

To view the play, click on this link.

Earl Clark hopes to stick around with Lakers

That free agent in the Lakers’ frontcourt stands to make a lot of money this summer.

Sure, Dwight Howard will get paid too, but Earl Clark has gone from a career washout to a gradual climber up the NBA’s free-agent list in July.

“Obviously, not playing earlier and averaging those [low] numbers, I didn’t know where I would end up,” Clark said. “Playing good now and with other teams wanting you, you can pick your own destiny. It feels good to be in the driver’s seat.”

He’s quick to add that his first choice is the Lakers, who can sign the unrestricted free agent even though they are already well over the salary cap next season.

“This is my first team that gave me an opportunity. I love the guys here,” Clark said. “The organization and the style of play fits me. I really want to stay here.”

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Pau Gasol helps Lakers hold on to beat Pistons 98-97

In a season full of turmoil and frustration, this would have been a particularly exasperating loss for the Los Angeles Lakers.

One of the most accurate free throw shooters in NBA history had missed two, giving the Detroit Pistons one more chance at a game-winning shot. Kyle Singler lobbed the ball toward the basket, and rookie Andre Drummond stretched his 6-foot-11 frame and tried a one-handed dunk with Pau Gasol defending.

No good. The Lakers held on for a 98-97 victory.

”Every game is like a playoff game for us right now,” Los Angeles coach Mike D’Antoni said. ”And some crazy things happen in playoff games.”

Gasol had 23 points and 10 rebounds and was the last line of defense on Detroit’s final alley-oop attempt Sunday. The Lakers blew an 18-point third-quarter lead but overcame their late free throw struggles to win for the fifth time in six games.

Los Angeles has won two in a row without Dwight Howard. The All-Star center sat out again with a right shoulder problem…

Detroit was still without guard Jose Calderon, who the Pistons acquired from Toronto on Wednesday. The Spanish-born Calderon has not been available to play because of unresolved visa issues.

The Lakers trail eighth-place Houston by 3 1/2 games in the Western Conference playoff race. Bryant scored 18 points but shot poorly from the perimeter. After an airball with the score tied at 95, he decided to drive to the basket the next time down. Bryant muscled through a foul and scored a basket that was counted on a continuation call…

Bynum had 18 points and 10 assists for the Pistons, and Greg Monroe added 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Clark had 17 points for Los Angeles. Nash had 11 points and 10 assists…

Bryant had five assists, snapping his streak of five straight games with at least eight.

— Reported by Noah Trister of the Associated Press

Dwight Howard still out with sore shoulder

Dwight Howard will miss the Los Angeles Lakers’ game at Detroit on Sunday because of his ailing shoulder.

Howard was scratched from Friday night’s game at Minnesota with a sore right shoulder and returned to Los Angeles to receive platelet-rich plasma treatments. It’s the same injury that kept him out of three games in January.

Howard was with the team Sunday but says he’s still sore, and he wants to make sure this isn’t a recurring problem for the rest of the season.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Pau Gasol starts, helps Lakers beat Wolves

Pau Gasol knew he could play like this. Kobe Bryant and Ricky Rubio did, too. The only person in Laker land who seemed to doubt what the gifted post player could do was the man in charge.

Now maybe coach Mike D’Antoni will become a believer as well.

Gasol had 22 points and 12 rebounds in his return to the starting lineup and Bryant nearly had a triple-double in leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 111-100 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.

”It was a good feeling out there,” Gasol said. ”Like the good old days.”

Bryant had 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and Steve Nash added 17 points and seven assists for the Lakers, who played without Dwight Howard due to a sore right shoulder. They have won four of their last five games and beat the Wolves for the 20th straight time, the longest active streak in the NBA.

”It’s been a rough season so far, no way around it,” said Gasol, who topped 20 points for just the third time this season. ”Just stay with it, keep playing. You never know when things can change direction. Just play your game when you’re out there. Tonight I was able to start, play more minutes, get a good flow. It was a good game.” …

Alexey Shved scored 18 points and Rubio had nine points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who lost their sixth straight game. They trailed by 29 in the second quarter, but climbed within four in the fourth.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press